Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano - Article Example

However, if the employer sees the need to conduct social media research during the hiring process, some guidelines should be put in place. These are important to ensure maximum benefit for the business. It is recommended for the research to be carried out by the HR specialists rather than any other manager or supervisor. Also, to ensure an unbiased decision about a candidate it is best to have a media check after the initial interview with the individual. If a social media check is conducted during the hiring process, then the same process should be applied to all the candidates, to ensure they are in an equal position. And finally, if the decision about rejecting a candidate was made based on the findings of the research, the specific reason for denial should be documented to avoid misunderstanding.

Harassment. There should be policies in place that prohibit any form of harassment in the workplace. Usually, those include many possible forms of harassment, excluding issues concerning social networks. It is obvious that if the employee engages in social media activity on the behalf of the employer then all the policies should apply. Issues arise on the level of personal social networking during off-work hours. There might be some posts reported to an employer or to the co-worker who might be targeted in it, therefore working relations might suffer. It seems that in this case, the employer should intervene for the sake of the common good; however, an employee’s off-duty activity might be protected by several legal sources, such as the Constitution, work unions, stated off-duty conduct protecting statutes. Therefore, the employer should warn the employee that if personal social networking will be affecting their workplace policies, appropriate actions would have to be taken to correct the situation.

Disparagement. The social networks could become a place where individuals may freely voice their displeasure and complaints, which they will not voice at the workplace. However, just like with any other personal comments posted by employees, before taking any disciplinary actions against an offending member, an employer should carefully examine each comment to see if they are conducted as a protected activity. Legal issues could be raised or avoided based on the nature of the complaint.

Relationships. An employer should not seek to befriend their employees. Often individuals post on their social network pages information of a very personal nature, acquiring which may be compared to going into a person’s bedroom and opening their private drawers. Hardly anyone would want to be exposed to such information; much less will stoop down to those activities. The same is applied to the al network interactions. Many ethical, if not legal, issues and dilemmas could be created through finding certain information of a personal nature. Unlike in an open conversation, when reading information from a personal blog, there is no way of controlling what be discovered. The objectivity and professional relationships may be strained because of the more personal information shared on the social networks. Professional networks provide less possibility for getting personal.

Employers and HR specialists should not take social networking with their employees lightly. The results of those activities are difficult to foresee.